10th Century Pontifical of Poitiers and Filioque Interpolation in Interlinear Latin

 This is the 10^th century Pontifical of Poitiers. In the section for Making of a Catechumen, at the giving of the Creed, we have the Creed written in Greek in Latin letters, and then, an interlinear Latin translation.

In the transliterated Greek it just reads (on fol. 55v) as:

“Ke is to Penuma to Agion to Kyrrion ke Zoopion to ek tu Patros ek Porreugomenon.”

[“And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-Giver, from the Father Proceeding.”]

In the Latin interlinear text, however, we notice something curious. In the original Latin text it just reads as:

“Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et Vivificantem, ex Patre Procedens.”

[“And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-Giver, from the Father Proceeding.”]

However, you notice that a later hand, with darker ink, has tampered with the text, so that we have the following emendation:

“Qui” added to before “ex” and “Filioque” added immediate after “Patre” and the original “procedens” has been erased, and the form “procedit” put in its place.

The Gelasian form of the Latin Symbol generally read simply as “ex Patre Procedens” or sometimes "Procedentem".

Nevertheless, the Pontifical was made in the 10^th Century in Poitiers, for the Bishop of that City, and the original 10^th Century text simply had the Credo in Greek (with the interlinear gloss having a faithful translation, absent a much later interpolation).

HOWEVER, if we go only to the page after the Greek Credo is completed (56v), things get even better. There, the Credo is to be recited formally in Latin (while the interlinear text in Latin was not a formal recitation), with the formal Latin Symbol / Credo in the relevant section saying:

“Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et Vivifcatorem, ex Patre Procedentem.”

“And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, from the Father Proceeding.”]

No interpolation was attempted. So, what happened? Well, whoever took the book, and much later interpolated the interlinear Latin, apparently didn’t do a very thorough job; he simply added the forbidden “Filioque” only to the interlinear, and left the formal Latin a page later uncorrupted!

When was the interlinear text corrupted? My guess is in the 11^th Century when other cataclysmic changes happened.

St. John Maximovitch with French Orthodox Clergy

 

St. John Maximovitch sometime after the consecration of Bishop Jean-Nectaire in 1966, and St. John's repose on June 19 (O.S.) / July 2 (N.S.), 1966. Presumably on a visit to France before St. John's return to the United States. In 1966 St. John Maximovitch and Bishop Theophil (ionescu) consecrated Bishop Jean-Nectaire [the Western Rite Orthodox Bishop shown in the photo].  St. John made a visit to France one last time before his repose; presumably, this is one of the last photos of his concelebration with the clergy in France.

Processions with Sacred Images in 10th Century Monastery of Cluny, France

 

The late 10^th century “Liber Tramitis”, describing the liturgical ordo of the great French monastery of Cluny speaks about the carrying of an icon of Our Lady holding Our Lord on the Feast of Purification [Hypapante]. They speak of a ‘tabula’, which is a flat board, on which, in this case, is painted Our Lady holding Our Lord. After the candles have been blessed before Mass, it says: 

The Cantor begins the Antiphon, 'A light for the revelation,' then he proceeds to say others when they gather, namely, "Hail, full of grace,' 'Do Thou adorn Thine Incense,' 'And he received.'  Also they [i.e. the monks] ought to receive the tabula to carry from the oratory, on which is depicted the image of Our Lord and His Mother.  For just as they venerate thus they are to return in order into the cloister, just as we explain thus [there follows an order of procession]..." [page 24] 

Likewise, in describing another processional, it states that on the Feast of the Apostles, the Procession is similar to that of the Nativity, except the special tabulam "wherein is affixed the image of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Mother" is not carried in procession on the FEasts of the Apostles. [page 87]   

However, on the Feast of the Assumption [Dormition] four senior monks in sacred orders carry minor relics and also they "accept the tabulam with the image of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Mother." [page 100]  

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Consuetudines_monasticae/mAg9AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

There certainly was liturgical usage for sacred images, specifically what we would clearly identify as flat-panel iconography [i.e. 'tabulam' means 'board', on which is depicted the Lord and His Mother], including veneration, in the Pre-Schism West.  Cluny was perhaps the largest and most prominent monastery in all of France, if not Western Europe in the 10th and early 11th centuries.